SETI Institute Funding Ends: Wrong Model in the First Place

SETI (the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence) is a ramification of the model of reality and life that most readers and definitely this writer were born into and brought up with. The model consists of the familiar three orthogonal physical coordinates plus a sort of linear sequential time coordinate, forming the backdrop for "everything that is".

That "everything" is - from our perspective - focused on this one planet - "Earth" - and some nearby ones, and a large number of stars and formations of stars. Our familiar planet Earth has the "Conditions for Life". We don't know exactly how many others do, but we suppose there are some. If they exist, they are certainly scattered far and wide.

How did "Life" get started on this one? Well, we suppose that it simply happened. If it had not, we would not be here to wonder about it, so that makes the question ridiculously simple. Maybe then it would have happened somewhere else. Maybe it did anyway? Who knows, really?

How did it ALL get started? Uh... a black hole that simply exploded, emitting, uh, rocks and radiation, a very long time ago? All guesses.

Given this background, what are the possibilities of "Life" originating in various places ever coming into contact with other "Life"? Apparently very small, but perhaps signals that they make, the way we make them, could span the gap.

Hence, SETI.

But the model is entirely wrong and everyone with any intellectual capacity knows it. Even our ancient communities knew that, and so did or do our "primitive" communities.

We have to believe that our SETI community itself suspects it is working from the wrong model.

So where would we begin to look for the outlines of a superior model?

One could do worse than to use this very website for a beginning resource, since many pertinent ideas have been explored here.

Coordinates or Dimensions

What is it about our familiar length, width, height, and time that makes them appear to fill all space, while encounters take place with beings - humanoid or otherwise - who seem perfectly happy to occupy other dimensions or coordinates... or some combination of others and the ones we know?

One must consider that perhaps such other dimensions are perfectly valid but our own nervous systems are designed to overlook them... under most conditions.

Not all conditions... but not nearly enough is understood about these so-called conditions. There are plenty of examples that break the usual mode, however poorly we understand them. We suggest that this lack of understanding is the problem needing to be addressed.

Better understanding of this subject area could completely change our concepts of the connectivity of events and even the meaning of "travel". It would seem that others - even other humanlike beings - are in possession of this type of understanding.

"Origins" of Life

We need to understand that our universe does not exist in the conventionally-understood flow of time. Life itself should not be seen as a possibility waiting for the random concurrence of incredibly-improbable events as we have been taught. It is simply a part of the universe. And it is likely heavily interconnected... throughout "space" as well as "time". It would be healthy for us to begin to adopt this view of things. We could then perhaps find what is really important and begin to work with that.

As part of this shifting of view we must let go of the lies that make up the model of Darwinian evolution.

The Failure of SETI

As stated at the beginning, SETI makes sense only against a background of lies and mistaken beliefs. This was obvious from its inception, and meant that its only value could be as a point of entertainment in some mad game. That apparently was sufficient justification for funding it when sources were flush... but we are coming into hard times. There needs to be a better reason to expend our resources and to do what we do. We believe that it is correct and appropriate - if not long overdue - to cut SETI adrift now and let it go fend for itself.

That actually was my own choice decades ago once I saw the game for what it was. This did not exactly lead to an easy life, but at least my conscience was satisfied.

SETI Signals: Prospect of Dollars

How did this choice actually take place? And what's this about Prospect of Dollars?

"My goodness! I had no idea we had all these beautiful signals!"
That was the voice coming from over my shoulder as I sat in the computer center and gazed with total dismay at all the junk showing in my first new tapes from Arecibo.

I was just thinking, how could we have all been so stupid as to not realize what we were going to be getting in our spectra -- spectral analysis being the hot thing in those days, some three decades ago or more. Of course! Had we done ANYTHING to protect against this??? Well, no, we hadn't.

Well, what could we do, then?

It was going to require some thinking, and a lot of work. But it so happened that radio engineering was one of my strong factors. Still, there would be costs. Each signal on my screen raised the prospect of dollars. Dollars to be spent... unless, as the person behind me was thinking, they were ready to take to the public "as is", meaning dollars to be gained.

I explained to the person - then as today a leader of the entire SETI operation - how things were, but my explanation was met with a look of total lack of comprehension.

I had not understood, until that moment, the business model of SETI.

The other thing I was just coming to understand was that there was to be no "Ph.D." after my name in this lifetime, because I could not agree to the conditions.

So what do we have today? SETI now acknowledges the likely worthlessness of their data but hopes that "the public" might be able to have some fun with the signals anyway. Thence SETI Live.

You can do your search on that term. More than that, it would not be appropriate for me to say.